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Author of poetry collections Under The Pier (Nasty Little Press); Fishing in the Aftermath: Poems 1994-2014 (Burning Eye); literary childhood memoir Springfield Road (Unbound) and Shade published in the ground breaking essay anthology The Good Immigrant (Unbound). Her live poetry album LIVEwire was released with indie spoken word label Nymphs and Thugs and shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award.

Latest book: Pessimism Is For Lightweights - 13 pieces of Courage and Resistance, was published by Rough Trade Books in July 2018 in the first Rough Trade Editions series. Rough Trade Books is an exciting new publishing venture in the mould of the pioneering record label. The poem ‘Pessimism is for Lightweights’ is currently a pubic poetry art piece and is on display outside the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol. Pessimism is for Lightweights has been included in the Rough Trade Top Ten Books list for 2018.

Latest audio release: Salena Godden 'Live at Byline Festival EP' released October 2018 and out now with Nymphs and Thugs.

Coming up: Mrs Death Misses Death is a major new work in progress. It is a collaboration, a debut fiction by Salena Godden with a soundtrack composed by Peter Coyte. This work has been shared at sold-out shows at the Last Word Festival, Roundhouse, London and Blah's Big Weekend at the Wardrobe Theatre, Bristol. This autumn 2018 the work was performed at The Cheltenham Literary Festival and The Tom Thumb Theatre in Margate. A BBC Radio 4 documentary about Mrs Death Misses Death is scheduled for broadcast December 2nd 2018 and repeated December 8th.

Salena Godden is one of Britain’s foremost poets whose electrifying live performances have earned her a devoted following, some of 2018's highlights have included:

Verve Poetry Festival; March For Women, Trafalgar Square; HUH at the LSO with the London Symphony Orchestra; Superjam at The British Library with Last Poets; The Stoke Newington Literary Festival; The Tower of London with Inua Ellams; Derby Book Festival; Festival of Debate with Helen Pankhurst; The Women's March at Parliament Square; Port Eliot Festival; Green Gathering; LIVEwire at Byline Festival; Edinburgh International Book Festival; Electric Fields with Neu Reekie; Kenilworth Arts Festival and Cheltenham Literary Festival.

Representation: OWN IT! has signed author, poet and activist Salena Godden to its literary, film and TV agency. For all enquiries please contact Crystal Mahey Morgan: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - www.https://ownit.london

Film Credits: Cahier Africain A feature film documentary about the humanitarian crisis in Central Africa Republic produced by award winning German director Heidi Specogna with English narration by Salena Godden. The film was awarded the Premio Zonta Club Locarno award by the Jury of the Semaine de la critique - Locarno for its humanitarian value and the Silver Dove.Brakes Salena Godden features in Brakes which premiered at Edinburgh Film Festival. Brakes is an Independent UK debut, a dark improvised comedy directed and written by Mercedes Grower. It stars Noel Fielding, Julia Davis and Julian Barratt and many great and familiar faces of British comedy. It's UK television premiere was on Film4 in 2018.

Various press quotes:

"Godden unleashes a ton of rage!" The Quietus

"Salena Godden is a powerhouse." Sabotage Reviews

"She is everything the Daily Mail is terrified of." Kerrang Magazine

"One of the greatest living poets - if you like cutting edge progressive voices - you will love Salena Godden" Birgitta Jonsdottir, Poetician, Iceland

"This brilliant poem is here to remind us Pessimism is for Lightweights. Print it. Laminate it. And send it to all the wonderful women in your life." Stylist Magazine

"Godden is less Godden and more Goddess, a superbly provocative delivery. Pessimism is for Lightweights appeals to me, as Godden puts it, “it’s apathy that hurts us all…love will conquer hate,” and this collection seems to surround itself with love." The Fountain Review

"Salena Godden’s Pessimism is for Lightweights is a visceral approach to resistance poetry. As with Godden’s previous work, there is a raw, explosive energy to each poem" Adelle Stripe in Caught By The River

"Her writing is urgent and detailed, colourful and clamorous. Like all love stories, her memoir is intense and intimate." The Times

"Throughout Springfield Road, Godden writes about a past that is at once deeply personal yet also belongs to the everyman figure; her descriptions of childhood are timeless." The Literateur

"Salena Godden is an absolute master of, knowing your assumptions, playing to them, and then flipping them completely." Write Out Loud

"Not for the faint hearted, Godden faces with robust clarity what many of us would prefer to distract ourselves from thinking about. She argues that Death is a woman; not the usual caricature of a hooded male figure carrying a sickle. She’s that invisible woman who can be found anywhere and everywhere: the careworn mother sitting beside us on the bus, or the cleaner in the hospital corridor we walk past and don’t notice. She lives among us in different guises; that’s the point. Death really is part of life." The Spectator "The traditional death figure as a homeless, broken old black woman is surprisingly and refreshingly revolutionary. The trip-hoppy tones of Mrs Death Misses Death ... lush and haunting." For Books Sake